Depending on how far along you are with pursuing a career in data science, it is important to have a solid understanding of what it actually is and why it is increasingly in demand from a variety of industries.
Data science, when stripped down to its bare bones, is the detailed analysis of data and the subsequent creation of strategies built around the findings of that data.
The reason why data science is becoming increasingly popular is that there is simply much more data to analyze. In fact, everything from advertising to product design and overarching corporate strategies is now based upon data findings. The collection and analysis of data has become one of the most powerful tools in the armories of governments, companies, and individuals.
This is because the collection of data has become incredibly comprehensive. Thousands of cookies follow each individual across the internet, collating information about their buying behavior, personal tastes, and political persuasions. This helps those collecting the data to market themselves more effectively towards each potential customer.
However, this is far from the only use of data science, which gives you a host of different options if you have a data science degree.
Here’s the kind of jobs you could potentially apply for:
Cloud computing is only going to become more popular
If you’re looking to enroll on an online masters in data science, then you’ll need to know which areas are in particular demand for data scientists.
One of the most common avenues for data scientists is cloud computing. This is the case for a very simple reason – if you’re going to collect huge amounts of data on your website visitors, for example, then you’re going to need somewhere to store it.
Most businesses do not have anywhere near the spare storage vaults that a multinational tech corporation can boast, which is why it is tricky for them to safely store any data they collect.
Without the ability to store this data securely and cheaply, you can’t do anything with the data, and it becomes worthless. In order to tackle this problem, many businesses have turned to cloud computing.
This allows data to be stored in cloud-based software, which is both safe and easy to access, meaning different members of the company (particularly data scientists) can access the data without having to be sent it by another member of staff.
Naturally, cloud computing has become increasingly popular, which means data scientists who specialize in cloud computing have also experienced a surge in demand for their services.
Data analysis is used in lots of different industries
Data science is experiencing an exponential increase in popularity across a range of industries. This is because there are very few business models that can’t benefit from collecting data and hiring a data scientist to analyze it for them.
The reason for this goes back as far as life itself. The more information you have at your disposal, the more informed the decision you make is. If you’re running a business, you will want to know the latest consumer trends, customer buying behavior, and internal information related to production and staff behavior. It will help you stay in touch and make informed decisions, potentially putting you ahead of the competition.
Of course, information for information’s sake can be counterproductive if it isn’t interpreted correctly. Having endless information at your fingertips can actually paralyze your decision-making faculties and leave you unable to reach a single succinct conclusion.
This is why data scientists are so valuable to companies. They help make sense of the data and find trends within it, making it easier for the decision-makers to understand.
A good data scientist can be the difference between a company constrained by indecision and a market leader that makes all the right calls.
You could become a statistician
A statistician is a type of data scientist who, unsurprisingly, focuses on statistics to help business leaders form decisions.
To be a data statistician, you need to have a strong grasp of statistical trends, theories, and analysis, as well as be comfortable with a greater level of specialization and an emphasis on logical thinking.
Big data analytics is a strong career option
Big data analytics is essentially an extension of conventional data analytics, only on a far larger scale. As the name suggests, big data is too substantial to be interpreted by anyone but a team of professional data analysts.
These data analysts begin by collecting the data, whether through website cookies, consumer surveys, social media content, or cloud applications, to name a few. Once collected, they analyze it for any anomalies, mistakes, or unnecessary data, remove it and clean up the data by making it presentable, clear, and showing clear trends.
Once this is done, this data is shown to those in charge of making the relevant decisions at the company. Usually, it falls to data scientists to help them come up with a suitable strategy off the back of the data. This is because data scientists are more concerned with forming useful strategies and processes off the back of data analysis rather than just focusing on the collection itself.
Data is becoming one of the most powerful tools in the global economy
Naturally, the types of jobs listed above are just some of the many different roles you can attain with a data science degree. The overall message to take away is that data science is a growing global force. The amount of data collected by everyone from governments to corporations is increasing by the day as the global economy becomes more and more reliant on digital tools, from which data can easily be drawn.
As a result, data science has become a hugely in-demand skill, which almost all businesses of a certain size need to help them form key decisions, whether corporate or internally.
